Immanent Design
by CAnnaliseR
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya hates what her team has become, but she stays. For a lot of reasons, she stays. She meets some interesting people from an obscure high school called Seirin along the way, and something happens that may just bring the miracles back together, because really, they've all always had a soft spot for the small bluenette. Warnings: Fem!Kuroko, Teen Preg, AkaKuro, HyuuRiko.
1. Chapter 1

Kuroko felt sick. She couldn't believe that the boys she'd once had so much faith in could be so heartless. No, scratch that, they'd proven over the past few months that they could be, but to think they would actually make it a game to see if they could get 111 points just to match the other team's 11…she didn't want to believe it even though the evidence was right there before her eyes. She hated this, hated what they had become, what the sport she loved so much had been twisted into by the boys that had been her best friends. She felt her fists clinch at her sides as her head dropped and tears began to pour down her face without her consent. She wanted to scream, because suddenly being here was too much, the lights, the squeak of the basketball shoes, the sounds of the buzzer- everything. It was all like confirmation that everything she thought she knew had come to an end and now only these shadows of the past remained. She lifted her head as she was beginning to walk away and caught Akashi's eyes by accident. Cold, hard, heterochrome eyes widened a bit in what Kuroko could only guess was shock at the tears pouring down her face. She had never been so disappointed in anyone or anything, and at this point she didn't care if Akashi saw her tears. _Let the world see them_ , she thought. It's not like she cried often, and a small, dark, selfish part of her wanted the boys to know she was in pain. But, instead of staying frozen there, she broke eye contact with Akashi and walked out the front doors of the gymnasium.

To say Akashi was in shock would have been an understatement. Even through the thick layers of nonchalance and control and through the barrier that had been built by the single yellow eye, Akashi felt worry and something akin to guilt pierce him through like a recently sharpened blade. Tetsuya never cried. As long as she'd been on the team, she'd never cried, not even gotten watery- eyed. And he'd certainly never ever expected to see such open disappointment written across her face. _It doesn't fit her_ , the warmer half of him thought. But these thoughts were quickly squashed as the final buzzer rang and Teikou was announced the winner of the Winter Cup... not that there had ever really been any doubt.


	2. Meeting the Guys

Kuroko wiped the tears from her face as she examined herself in the bathroom mirror. She had never been so glad to be invisible. She couldn't believe her own thoughts and actions, but she supposed not everyone could _always_ be in control…and there was still this one voice in the back of her mind that screamed at her to let them know how hurt she was. This one, tiny, nagging feeling that she should just lay it all on the line…but no. She refused to open up to the boys who shut her off, the last thing she needed was to give Akashi and the others something else they could hurt her with. She refused to make herself more vulnerable than she already had or worse, more vulnerable than she was by definition. She could be strong, she could march through this just like she would anything else…right?

After she successfully (mostly, her eyes were a little red, but who would notice, really?) cleaned herself up, she headed outside to make her way to one of the benches and wait for the bus. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even recognize that she was about to bump into someone until they bumped her shoulder and she fell flat on her bottom on the ground. _Oww…_ she thought, and then a voice came from above her, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. But you really should let people know where you are, ya know. You're kind of hard to see." She looked up, surprised the boy had found her so quickly. Usually when people knocked her over, she was already on her feet and gone by the time they registered that they'd bumped into her. "It's alright", she heard herself reply, "I wasn't paying attention either." She accepted the hand the boy was holding out to help her up and dusted off her uniform. "Woah, you're from Teikou! I didn't know they had a girl on the team!" said a boy from behind the one with the glasses that helped her up. She wasn't sure quite how to respond, it had been a while since anyone paid her any attention. "Yes, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. It's nice to meet you", she gave a small bow to them. "I'm Hyuuga and this is Izuki, it's nice to meet you, Kuroko."

Hyuuga couldn't believe his own clumsiness, especially after he noticed her on the ground. He couldn't believe how little presence she had, what was this girl, a ghost? And from Teikou, no less. He wondered vaguely if she was a regular or if maybe she was observing or was a benchwarmer. Aida would be able to tell, but sadly she was the only one that possessed that ability. As he glanced over the girl once more, he could see just how she was so damn easy to overlook, the girl was _tiny_ , like the fairies in old children's stories. She looked like she might snap in half if someone pushed her too hard! And yet, there was a kind of air of strength about her, like she'd been through enough that she could withstand just about anything. Something in her eyes though, was almost sad…"Hey, are you ok?" She looked at him, surprised, and that's when he noticed; her eyes were rimmed with a swollen sort of redness that usually only equated to one thing, "…you've been crying…why?" Izuki beat him to the punch. The guy was damn good at reading people. She looked at him, even more surprised, then looked away, she seemed to want to look anywhere but at them, and so she surveyed the concrete as she said quietly, "It's nothing…I'm fine…" Hyuuga looked at Izuki for a moment and they came to a mutual understanding that this girl was definitely not okay. No one who had red- rimmed eyes could be _okay_ , but if being friends with Aida had taught him anything, it was that if a woman did not want to talk, she _was not going to._ So he and Izuki silently agreed to leave well enough alone, especially with a girl that they had literally just met. "Alright, well…." "Tetsuya." The girl's eyes widened and she glanced behind Hyuuga, towards someone standing there. Hyuuga turned and felt sure his own eyes widened, as well as Izuki's, he was pretty sure they'd never met anyone quite like this guy. He was short, small, the kid had a lean build that was highlighted by bright red hair and mismatched eyes. Hyuuga would've commented on his eyes and he knew without asking that Izuki would have come up with some lame pun, but the kid's aura brought his thoughts to a screeching halt. Everything about this guy screamed _danger, dominance, control_ , and Hyuuga couldn't believe that this kid was in middle school. If he wasn't mistaken this kid was the captain of the Generation of Miracles…Akashi Seijuuro. How could he be in middle school? With a captain like that, it was no wonder Teikou's basketball team was miles ahead of everyone else. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Kuroko said, "Hai, Akashi- kun", and bade Hyuuga and Izuki goodbye as she departed with the red- haired teen. He looked at Izuki, "did she look a little…sad…when she left?" Izuki asked. Hyuuga just looked at the spot where they'd disappeared from and said, "I dunno, I was too busy trying to figure out if they're really just in middle school."

 **Hey guys, I'm so sorry for the delay! I'm in college and I think my professors all congregate and collectively decide to make me think I have no work for like 6 weeks and then get ALL THE WORK for like 2 weeks straight lol. Anyway, I know this chapter might seem a bit random but I promise it will tie in in the next few chapters. And I will be updating sooner next time, I can't say when but I will, I promise. Thanks, guys, love ya!**


	3. A Day in the Life

**OK, so for the sake of convenience, I'm writing this as if the Winter Cup in middle school was in January (that sounds about right, right? If you know when it actually happened instead of my apporoximation, please let me know) and the fanfic is going to proceed from there, although I will be, of course, writing background info to the things that happen in the course of this fic. A guest also asked if the teen pregnancy is happening at Teikou or Seirin, and my plan is that the teen pregnancy will start in Teikou and end at Seirin (since the Winter Cup and all that mess was during their last year at Teikou and January is only half way through the year). But bear in mind that in Japan, they only have 3 years of high school and 4 years of middle school, so Kuroko and the GoM are fifteen, not fourteen. Anyway, that's just so you have a general timeline. I will definitely keep you all updated on where we are on the timeline as the fic goes on, but for now: FANFICTION, FIGHT! (haha, you get the reference? ;P )**

Kuroko couldn't believe that this is where she had ended up. The silence was like a knife through her heart, piercing deeper and deeper with every passing moment, the only noise the rolling of the bus wheels against the pavement and the ocassional crunch or wrapper of Murasakibara's candy. Her thoughts wandered as she looked out the window, back to those boys she had met at the gymnasium. She wondered if they had ever known this feeling, wondered what school they went to- they seemed happy. They looked like boys who really loved basketball, and she couldn't help but to be envious of them. What were their names? Hyuuga and Izuki, that's right. _Maybe I'll run into them again_ …she thought, and she rested her head against the glass of the bus window, every bump of the road distracting her momentarily from the crushing silence.

The next day, Kuroko couldn't remember ever wanting to get out of bed less. But she did, she robotically put on her uniform, slipped all her things into her backpack, grabbed a small breakfast, and made sure she had her gym bag before heading out the door to face the silence once again. Before leaving, she glanced at the note on the fridge:

"Dear Tetsuya, your father and I had a flight to catch. We didn't want to wake you, but we'll see you when we get back. Xx Mom and Dad." Emotionlessly, she stuck the note back onto the refrigerator door and headed out.

Her classes continued as they always had, which came as almost a relief to Kuroko. At least when she felt like her life was falling apart, she could still rely on her teachers to be as boring as always and she could still count on her classmates to allow her to stay invisible. She could count on the daily routine of Teikou to remain unchanging in her swirling world, and it was oddly comforting. She took a deep breath and pulled out her bento and began to slowly nibble as she continued her light novel. At least for an hour, she could let the sun from the windows and the fictional world she was reading about sweep her into their loving arms and forget about the real world. Inside, she smiled.

She couldn't believe that she actually hated practice. She had always enjoyed it (except when she was throwing up from the exertion, but that's a completely different story), she had always held a certain degree of pride in her sore muscles and her hard work and she had always found joy in the sounds in the gym. She knew most girls her age were taking this kind of joy in the discovery of other things, but she had always found happiness and comfort in the squeak of basketball shoes and the sound of the ball swooping through the net, and she used to love the feel of the ball in her hands, its course texture reminding her of good times and a commraderie that she knew she'd never be able to find anywhere but on a basketball court. And now all she could see were faded memories, happy times of the past tainted by the time when everything began to fall apart. All she could imagine was the day that Aomine stopped coming to practice and the moment when Akashi's warm eyes went cold. All she could feel was the crushing silence filled with squeaks and bounces and swoops that used to make her happy but now tore through her like a finely made sword because _God_ , what was the _point_ in playing basketball if you had no friends to play with? And how could she keep _pretending_ that _nothing_ was wrong? She felt like every bounce of the ball was a drum beat bringing her closer to a complete breakdown and she couldn't let the boys see her like that. Did they know what this team meant to her? Did it mean anything to them? She thought it had at one point. Did they know what they were doing? How they were changing and how bad it had become? And worst of all, did they even care? She didn't like to think about the answer.

After practice, she decided that it was time for a vanilla shake, surely that would make up for a bad day, right? She packed up her things and headed out, unnoticed, and then proceeded to start the walk to Maji Burger.

Hyuuga couldn't remember why he had stopped into Maji Burger. _Oh, right_ , he thought, _Aida wanted to_. "I think the number four looks good, maybe just with a sweet tea, what do you think, Hyuuga- kun?" He looked over the menu and said, "I usually get the number three". "Hmm…that one looks good, too…I guess I'll try that one." They both ordered and sat down at a booth. The two just talked small talk as they slowly ate their food, Aida analyzing occasionally how little nutritional value there actually was to Maji Burger, while Hyuuga just nodded and carried on. He didn't particularly care what was in the food as long as it tasted good and did its job, but if Aida wanted to analyze it, let her. Besides, it was kinda cute the way she got so intrigued by it… _wait, what the hell?_ He shook off his own thought and then was saved from having to face it further when he glanced up and noticed a mop of slightly familiar light blue hair. _What was her name…Ku…Kuro…Kuroko!_ "Kuroko- chan!" He called out to her. She spun and baby blue eyes met his as he watched recognition flicker in them. Surprise filtered through them before they became emotionless again. He waved her over and she brought her tray with her. "Who's that?" Aida asked curiously. Kuroko came up to the end of the table, "this is Kuroko- chan, Izuki and I met her at the middle school Winter Cup when we all went, she's on the Teikou Basketball Team." A swirl of emotions ran through Kuroko's eyes, but before he could figure out what it was, it was gone, "Kuroko, this is Aida Riko, she's the Seirin coach". Kuroko bowed her head slightly at Aida and said, "It's nice to meet you, Riko- san". Aida looked mildly surprised at the well- mannered nature of the girl before she said, "It's nice to meet you as well, Kuroko-chan," and scooted over to let Kuroko sit. After sitting, Kuroko began slowly sipping at what looked like a vanilla shake. "So, you're on the Teikou team…what position do you play? Are you a reserve?" Kuroko looked at her and replied after another small sip, "I play a kind of…'phantom', as people say, and I'm a regular." Aida looked really surprised at that, and Hyuuga couldn't help but share that emotion. This tiny girl was a regular at Teikou? She looked like she'd get crushed under her teammates. "What do you mean by 'phantom', exactly?" Aida's shock had turned into intrigue, and again Hyuuga couldn't help but agree. "It's difficult to explain…" Kuroko replied, "But I'm a kind of…passing specialist. They call me a 'phantom sixth player' though most of them have never noticed me and assume I'm a boy so they call me the 'phantom sixth man'". Hyuuga was really interested now, a player on a team that only specializes in passing the ball? And surely she was good at it if that was the only thing she did and she was a _regular_ at _Teikou_ …this would be interesting to see in person, in action. "Kuroko- chan, would you mind showing us this? You could come to one of our practices", Aida seemed to be an expert at reading his mind.


	4. A Glimmer of Hope

**I AM SO SORRY! I know it's been a while since I updated, I just got sidetracked by YouTube… and homework…and One Direction…ANYWAYS, it has been pointed out to me that, in Japan, there are 6 years of elementary, 3 years of middle, and 3 years of high school. My timeline for the story is the same regardless, because they're still around 15, but my mistake with the order of the schooling was pointed out to me and I felt bad about it, so I'm fixing it now :D WELCOME TO CHAPTER 4! SEIRIN, FIGHT!**

Kuroko woke up in a better mood than she had been in for a while. She felt lighter somehow as she packed her gym bag with all her things. She was really glad she'd run into that guy from Seirin again, she was hoping against hope that she would. He and the other guy she had met before had seemed so genuine that she couldn't help but feel a certain gravitation towards the school they both came from. And the coach of the team, Aida Riko, seemed to be very genuine and kind as well. Though none of them seemed to be the kind to take the kind of attitude that Kuroko's team was dishing out right now…and Kuroko couldn't help but smile at the thought that maybe going to their practice would be a good thing. But then…anything had to be better than what she was doing now, right?

Her day went by as slow as it had been since everything went downhill, at least it went that way until she made to leave after practice. That's when things got a little weird…in the form of the only redhead Kuroko knew.

As usual, practice left Kuroko out of breath and feeling more than a little gross with sweat, but what was the point of showering when she was just going to go straight to a practice match with Seirin? Better just to wait, by her logic. So, after practice, she went about packing up all her things and putting on her sweater in her silent, efficient manner (and yes, the silence did contribute to her efficiency, thank you very much). She allowed her mind to wander a bit away from the day as she packed the last of her things and went to tie her shoes. She began to wonder what practice with Seirin would be like and if they would all be as nice as the members of the basketball team she had met already. Vaguely, she wondered if Hyuuga senpai and Riko- san were a couple. The thought that they might be brought a small smile to her face, _they would be cute…I bet they don't even see it yet…_ She finished tying her shoe laces and stood to leave when she was given a mild heart attack by the red head leaning in the doorframe of the locker room. She forced herself to keep her composure, _don't think about the last time we were alone, don't think about it, don't think about it…_ The mantra continued in her head even as Akashi's heterochrome eyes observed her complete shock at his presence. She stared back at him, the mantra in her head a nonstop plea to herself to _please not lose composure in front of this guy, not again, never again._ "Hello, Tetsuya. Thinking happy thoughts? I couldn't help but notice you were smiling." Akashi always somehow managed to give off the aura that he already knew what was going on in her head and it drove Kuroko insane. He seemed to just be able to see right through her and, after everything, she hated him for it. She felt her composure begin to crack only slightly as she replied, "just thinking about a couple of friends of mine. They seem happy together." _Can I count them as friends? I think so…_ Thinking about Riko and Hyuuga senpai made Kuroko feel lighter somehow, even though she didn't know them at all and her only relationship had fallen apart rather quickly. But if she couldn't be happy right now, she liked the idea that someone could be, and she'd be lying if she said that other peoples' successful relationships didn't give her a bit of hope that maybe she wasn't totally lost. Akashi observed her for a moment longer before saying, "I wasn't aware you had many friends outside Teikou." "Just a few", she replied, shrugging her bag onto her shoulder and advancing towards the door. Akashi stayed in place. "Excuse me, Akashi- kun, I have somewhere to be". _Please let me keep this encounter as short as possible, please let me keep some part of my dignity…_ Akashi looked at her a moment longer, as if trying to analyze her, and then gracefully stepped out of the way so she could leave. She gave him one last glance and then proceeded out the door.

Kuroko tried to get Akashi out of her mind as she headed to practice with Seirin. _This will be fun_ , she thought. Maybe she would learn something- no, scratch that, she felt _confident_ she would learn something today. The members of this team she'd met- only three of them but they stuck out so much in her memory- seemed so kind and happy, and she couldn't help but to allow their happiness to rub off on her a bit. This was the lightest she'd felt in a while, even if nerves did slightly taint her sunshine. But a little bit of nerves was a good thing- that much she _had_ learned from her time so far at Teikou.

Aida didn't even notice her at first. She jumped just about a foot in the air when a small, pale hand tapped her shoulder and a soft voice said, "Excuse me? Riko- san?" She spun and was face to face with the same emotionless, pale girl she'd met with Hyuuga at Maji Burger the day previous. How could one person be so invisible? Was this girl born this way? It was clear she didn't have to try very hard to not be noticed. It made Aida wonder if this girl could be noticed if she tried…But if you managed to fly under the radar all the time, why would you want to be noticed? "Kuroko- chan, it's nice to see you again. Welcome to Seirin", Aida said. Kuroko simply nodded and muttered a soft "thank you" before glancing around the gym, blue eyes flickering back and forth and up, evaluating the size of it all, "you've got a decent sized gym", Kuroko said after a minute. "Yeah, it's just big enough for practice matches and such, but actual games are usually played at different schools, I'm sure Teikou's is much bigger", Aida found herself curious, they'd been inside Teikou but it wasn't like they got the grand tour or anything. Though the gym they had been in had been quite spacious. "We have multiple gyms, one for each string of the basketball team, and usually people come to our gym to play games, just because multiple matches can go on at the same time", Kuroko replied, not once breaking her straight expression. Aida could see what she was saying though, Teikou really was a great place to hold a game- a _ton_ of people fit into a little bit of space there. But she couldn't help but wonder _does this girl ever show emotion? I mean, her voice isn't monotone, but that's about the most expressive thing about her…maybe she's just one of those people that you need practice to read…_ The guys of Seirin came filing in just then and Aida turned to smile at them as they headed to the locker room to change. Kuroko observed them, her hopes for this practice game soaring as she watched them laugh and joke with each other. Optimism worked its way into her system, making her feel like maybe this could possibly be the start of something great.

 **As usual, please let me know what you think** **And again, I'm so sorry for the late update, I will try and post earlier next time, I promise! I'm gonna try to get another chapter up this week to make up for the fact that I didn't update for so long…THANK YOU FOR READING, GUYS! XDXD**


	5. Along for the Ride

**I AM SO SORRY! At first I wasn't able to update because I had finals (finals in college suck so much more than finals in high school, I mean seriously, are schools just sadists or what?), but I've been out for summer for a while and I really don't have an excuse for not updating, I just got lazy and I'm really sorry. I hate it when authors do that and I just did it anyway….LAME. Anyway, welcome to yet another episode of Immanent Design and I hope you all enjoy. Obviously I don't own it, but….SEIRIN, FIGHT!**

 _Now that was something worth seeing_ , Aida thought as the boys went to change. She didn't think she'd ever seen something so unique before, and she'd seen a lot of interesting things over the course of time. But Kuroko was something really special, and Aida could definitely see a place for her on the team once she got into high school next year. If she chose Seirin, of course, she could just as easily chose another school, one with a more well known basketball team. But Aida also got the distinct feeling that Kuroko was very unlikely to do that. Overall, she absolutely loved the chances of Kuroko joining Seirin, and the small girl would be a more than welcome addition to the team with her skillset. The shadow would be a major asset against the other members of the Generation of Miracles that Seirin was sure to come across when the GoM went into high school next year. Kuroko would give them a huge leg up with both her skillset and with her knowledge of the GoM and how their abilities work. Granted, they could and probably would also change a lot in the time they would be training in high school, but their base techniques couldn't change that much. It just wasn't possible. Right? Anyway, the only thing Aida needed now was Kuroko's word that she was going to come to Seirin and then, if she said yes, a sports physical. Aida looked up from her notebook to see the guys and Kuroko all coming out of the locker room and filing into the gym once again. "Hey, guys, wanna go grab a bite?" Cheers and Kuroko's soft smile were the response to her invitation. Maji Burger it was, then.

"So, Kuroko- san, where did you learn how to do that?" Koganei asked her as they all began to eat their burgers and fries. "I got the idea from the captain of the Teikou team and developed it from there". Her cool demeanor could be an aid as well, Aida noted, it would keep the blue head from panicking in a tense game. Her calm optimism might also spread to the other members of the team, her determination would probably be able to get them through some tough spots. "That's so cool! You must've worked really hard on it", Izuki chipped in. "Yes, I've been playing for a while now, but I've always had to train a little harder to try and keep up with everyone. Aside from passing, I'm a very below- par player," she replied sheepishly. She didn't seem to mind talking about any of it though. "Well, you are very good at passing though, and I think your unconventional style is very interesting", Izuki replied instantly, "Yeah, don't sweat the small stuff", Hyuuga supplied. "As a matter of fact, I think you'd make a great addition to this team next year, if you chose to come to Seirin and play basketball", he continued. Kuroko's baby blue eyes widened a little in surprise. "You know, I've been thinking the exact same thing", Aida began, "Kuroko, if you chose to come to Seirin, then we would gladly reserve you a spot here on the basketball team. It's new but we would love to have you if you choose to accept". Kuroko looked around the table at the boys' smiling faces. She stopped at Izuki and he nodded in response to her unspoken question. The table seemed to go quiet in anticipation of her response to the invitation. She looked up at Hyuuga and then at Aida and said with a slightly larger smile, "I would love to. Thank you so much". The guys cheered and Hyuuga ordered milkshakes for the table (vanilla, in honor of Kuroko's agreement to stay) as Kuroko smiled and laughed softly at the antics of the team, looking more at home and at ease than Aida ever imagined seeing her.

 **I'm also sorry that this chapter seems so short…the next one will probably be longer and will have more of the GoM in it as it will shift slightly back to Teikou and what's going on there. I didn't even mean at first for this chapter to be Aida's perspective, but it just kinda happened that way anyway. I hope you enjoyed it, and as always your constructive criticism and/ or ideas and comments and questions and such are more than welcome should you choose to share them with me. See y'all next chapter!**


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